Guess Who’s Coming to Challenge the Authority of WhatsApp in Instant Messaging?
Instant Messaging (IM) is the new rage and has been for quite a while, ever since WhatsApp made everyone forget about BlackBerry Messenger. IM has made communication, easier and seamless, and has ensured quick connectivity at a negligible cost. In a market dominated by WhatsApp and Messenger of Facebook (roughly 60 %), a new player has arrived and is known to be testing the waters.
It’s Amazon. Yes, the e-commerce giant is on the mission to extend its ever increasing roster of services. AFTV news reported this recently in their website that Amazon is coming up with a new messaging app called ‘Anytime’. The newest of Amazon testing the waters in IM market has sure created ripples in the tech world with TechCrunch doing a follow up article on the initial report.

As mentioned in the initial report, here is a preview of what you can expect-
- Reach people by name: Anytime will be able to search and add people simply by their name.
- Privacy ensured: As mentioned, it has an encryption feature to protect specific chats or messages more robustly.
- Universal support: The application is supported by Android, Windows, iPhone, and Desktop.
- Video and Voice Call: Crystal clear video and voice call support. Call a friend or a group of friends with Anytime.
- Exceptional group chat support: A unique feature that makes chat and data sharing in a group, seamless and easier.
- Be a social gamer: Not only can you share games but you can even challenge your friends for a friendly duel.
- Be social, or be personal: Share pictures, listen to music, order food with friends and split the bill.
- Express freely: Support for GIF, Sticker and Emojis to make chats expressive, interactive and fun.
- Photo and video filters: Go full throttle with a range of video and image filters and share those moments.
- Business integration: Personalized customer support from businesses. You can also make reservations or shop.
The real question is, whether or not Amazon can disrupt the IM market, dominated by Facebook owned veterans and some new players like Snapchat. This will wholly depend on what features Amazon Anytime is offering and how seamless it integrates them into User Experience.
Given Amazon’s latest foray into business messaging / video conferencing app called Chime, Anytime doesn’t seem like an improbability. In fact integrating the data gathered from Anytime with their smart assistant device Alexa, can power Amazon to provide more personalized user experience.
